Sunday, 5 May 2013

Evan Andree - Flags Pt. III

EP review by kev@thesoundofconfusion.co.uk

Considering we've never reviewed anything by The Postal Service on The Sound Of Confusion, even in the old radio blog days (although we did play their tunes on the show) they don't half get an awful lot of mentions here. People talk about the impact and influence that The Strokes and The White Stripes had on music at the turn of the millennium, but could it be that the recently reformed pair had even more of an impact? Or is it just that indie/electro crossbreeds are in vogue at the moment? Either way, as we said when we featured Atlanta songwriter/producer/musician Evan Andree as an artist to check out at the end of last year we made that comparison, and listening to his new EP, we stand by it.

'Flags Pt. III' treads a very similar path to some of that band's work. 'Mr Teleportation' is maybe the furthest removed, if only because it ventures much closer to straight-ahead modern pop music, this also means it's the least rewarding song here, despite the effort that's clearly gone into its recording. Andree is at his best when he allows his take on alt-pop to embrace more of the "alt" part. The dramatic 'Cold Destruction Of Life' fares better, although this is simply down to it being a better song. The real high point here, and the reason why we should be talking about Evan Andree, is 'Actors + Disasters' which mixes fantasy electro with guitar-pop. It's hardly cutting edge but it doesn't need to be and it doesn't try to be; it's simply a good song, and good songs will prevail whatever the genre. So, a solid EP with one stand-out track. Evan Andree is clearly a talented guy, but if we had our way he'd be pushing those barriers just that bit further.